The 3AM Wake-Up Call: Cortisol, Stress and Sleep

Did you know...?

[video transcript] I'm a "psychic!"

One of the most common sleep complaints I get from people is that they wake up in the middle of the night. And it makes me look like a psychic because I say, "Are you waking up at 3:00 AM?" And almost invariably, the answer is yes. And then what happens is folks are up for an hour, they go back down to sleep somewhere around four or five. They sleep for an hour or two, and then they wake up in the morning to go to work and get about their morning routines, and it's like they never slept at all. But if you add up the hours, maybe they did sleep 6, 7, 8 hours a night. And then they're going through their day fatigued. They get to the end of the day, and the same cycle repeats over and over, and we get more and more tired.

So why are we waking up at 3:00 AM? Well, that's what's called a cortisol spike. Cortisol is the hormone that wakes you up. Melatonin is the hormone that keeps you asleep. And what's happening is there's a stressor that is waking you up.

Your Liver's Role in Midnight Awakenings

Now, what is that stressor? As a naturopathic doctor, we study Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and the liver's time to work is between 2:00 and 4:00 AM. Now, why is that important for waking up? Well, the liver is the seed of emotion. It holds the blood, and it really responds to stress. So what are some things that are upsetting the liver and causing you to wake up?

Alcohol: Alcohol can get you to sleep, but it's not going to keep you to sleep. We all know that alcohol goes to the liver to get processed, and that's going to wake you up in the middle of the night.

A Very Large Meal: Your stomach, your intestines, everything's going to process that meal. But the liver has to work overtime to process all the blood and all the nutrients from that very large meal and sometimes some of the toxins.
Stress Itself: If you're worried about something, you're going to wake up. You may have trouble getting to sleep; you're definitely going to wake up in the middle of the night, and the liver is the organ that responds to stress.

Practical Steps to Better Sleep

So what do you do? First of all, you might want to back those meals up a couple of hours, eat them in the early evening so that it has plenty of time to digest before you get to sleep.

Back off alcohol, particularly on weekdays. Save it for the weekends where you can have a little bit more of a good time, and these are one-off incidents as opposed to every single night.
And finally, manage your stress. Have a wind-down routine before you go to bed so that you're not going from a violent Netflix movie to bedtime and waking up at 3:00 AM.
And finally, there are supplements that blunt the cortisol response without going on heavy medications. And that will keep you asleep and give you that all-day energy.

Need a Custom Sleep Solution?

So if you're waking at 3:00 AM and otherwise having issues with sleep, set up a free 15-minute discovery call with me. No one ever leaves that call without more direction. We have the natural solution and are frequently cited the best naturopath clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. And if you also need other information, check me out at drdanwool.com. See you next time!

Interested in good sleep? Read this: Dr. Wool blog post on good sleep hygiene